Monday, February 17, 2020 | Reflections
Faith is the vow we make to God when we seek to respond more deeply to God’s love. Of course, God is the one with unwavering faith and love for us. When we lose faith in God or lose our love, God remains faithful and continues calling us. Faith in God is...
Sunday, February 16, 2020 | Reflections
When I was growing up, memorizing scripture was part of my Christian formation. Sunday School often encouraged children and adults to memorize particular Bible verses—and rewarded us with gold stars and special certificates. While this practice seems to h….(View...
Saturday, February 15, 2020 | Reflections
Check yourself before you wreck yourself. This seems to be what Paul is saying. There is no life without relationships. Our relationships shape and make us, even the difficult ones. Paul picks up on a familiar theme of our membership in the body of ….(View this...
Friday, February 14, 2020 | Reflections
Life is filled with drama. When we look at the life of our spiritual ancestors, drama is everywhere—family feuds, wars, mistakes, and failed attempts to be the holy people God has made and called us to be. One faithful step in dealing with our own...
Thursday, February 13, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: November 26, 1944There are old watchtowers in Europe that have spiral stairways with windows at different levels. As you go up, you come on a window that looks out in the same direction as the one below, and you are apt to….(View this reading...
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 | Reflections
The message from this section of Paul’s letter to the Christians living in Rome undergirds his belief that a genuine life of love is made up of many broken-hearted moments and miraculous restorations. One reason Romans resonates with so many of us is because we live...
Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Reflections
We are all in need of being saved. When Jesus encounters the woman caught in adultery, he offers the ultimate assistance of salvation. The men who condemn her make her feel miserable, acting out their own narrow-minded misery. Jesus saves her—not just from death but...
Monday, February 10, 2020 | Reflections
Isaac and Rebekah’s story is a powerful one, full of drama, adventure, love, heartbreaks, disappointments, challenges, joys, and struggle. My favorite part of their life story is the experience Rebekah has carrying twins. The sons in her womb fight each other from the...
Sunday, February 9, 2020 | Reflections
Bob Marley, activist and Jamaican singer/songwriter, frequently sang about all the troubles in the world. In songs such as “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” “Iron Lion Zion,” and “Redemption Song,” Marley’s understanding of compassion, grace, mercy, and restoration...
Saturday, February 8, 2020 | Reflections
Jesus is truly the model and blueprint for the Christian life.Our gospel reading shows how people misunderstood Jesus and constantly argued with him. Repeatedly they accuse him of blasphemy and being possessed by the devil. Take a minute to ref….(View this...
Friday, February 7, 2020 | Reflections
Stories about Abraham remind us that the Bible is, at its heart, a love story. Abraham’s relationship with God is all about friendship, faith, and unconditional love.Abraham knows what he wants—a family, a place to belong—and finds these things in his relationship...
Thursday, February 6, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: February 27, 1995Who ever imagined a creation so limited that human beings were the best God could do? Creatures winged with the wind, “molded in beauty…subtle as flame” are hardly surprising if God is able to shape ….(View this reading...
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | Community Ministry, Episcopal Church News
St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, has posted the names of homicide victim outside the church since 2007. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service [Episcopal News Service] Though far from a good year, 2019 was a...
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | Reflections
Abraham hears a call to sacrifice his son, and he believes this call is from God. Abraham has an unshakable faith and knows God will always provide for him and his family. Abraham listens deeply, pausing each step of the way to Moriah to ask: Really, God? Are you sure...
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 | Reflections
A little fish spent its life asking other fish where to find the ocean. An ancient sea creature told the little fish that it was, in fact, swimming in the ocean. The little fish couldn’t accept that this was the ocean and continued to believe that all it was doing was...
